The Museum of Chinese Australian History is launching a new exhibition that explores amateur photographer Henry (Harry) Curtis adventures in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The photographs taken over eighty years ago are from the Chinese Museum’s permanent collection.
Curtis captivating images reveal his rapport with the people he photographs despite language and cultural differences.
His photographs do not romanticize his subjects; he observes them and relates to them as people. Joyce Agee, Senior Curator, Chinese Museum
Many of the prints in the exhibition were produced by Curtis, a radiographer for British hospitals, and reflect his sophisticated skills in the darkroom.
Through Harry Curtis lens, we experience Distant Worlds and the Shanghai and Hong Kong of the mid-1930s. In less than seven years, these vibrant cities were to be immeasurably changed with the outbreak of WWII.
The Directors of DUCKWORTH PUBLISHERS & RITA PAYNE MEDIAÂ
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have the pleasure of inviting you to the launch of
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ASIAN WATERS
The Struggle Over the Asia-Pacific and the Strategy of Chinese Expansion
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by HUMPHREY HAWKSLEY
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The author will be in conversation with television anchor, Stephen Cole, and Dr Kerry Brown, China specialist, King’s College London with contributions from experts in the audience.
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Thursday 28th June 2018 from 6-7.30pm
Senate Room, First Floor, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
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After the discussion, guests are welcome to stay for a drinks reception where Humphrey will be
Finally got round to reading Scott Tong’s A Village with my Name(only took so long because it’s been a bit tricky to locate in England). I am usually super-wary of biographies written by family members – grandma’s misdemeanors or sexual encounters often get rather ignored and the necessary distance is lost. Quite the opposite with Tong’s book – indeed he head on confronts some very tricky family history. A superb read….
When journalist Scott Tong moved to Shanghai, his assignment was to start up the first full-time China bureau for “Marketplace,†the daily business and economics program on public radio stations across the United States. But for Tong the move became much more—it offered the opportunity to reconnect with members of his extended family who had remained in China after his parents fled the communists six decades prior. By uncovering the stories of his family’s history, Tong discovered a new way to understand the defining moments of modern China and its long, interrupted quest to go global.  A Village with My Name offers a unique perspective on the transitions in China through the eyes of regular people who have witnessed such epochal events as the toppling of the Qing monarchy, Japan’s occupation during World War II, exile of political prisoners to forced labor camps, mass death and famine during the Great Leap Forward, market reforms under Deng Xiaoping, and the dawn of the One Child Policy. Tong’s story focuses on five members of his family, who each offer a specific window on a changing country: a rare American-educated girl born in the closing days of the Qing Dynasty, a pioneer exchange student, an abandoned toddler from World War II who later rides the wave of China’s global export boom, a young professional climbing the ladder at a multinational company, and an orphan (the author’s daughter) adopted in the middle of a baby-selling scandal fueled by foreign money. Through their stories, Tong shows us China anew, visiting former prison labor camps on the Tibetan plateau and rural outposts along the Yangtze, exploring the Shanghai of the 1930s, and touring factories across the mainland.  With curiosity and sensitivity, Tong explores the moments that have shaped China and its people, offering a compelling and deeply personal take on how China became what it is today.
Bespoke’s next Midnight in Peking Walking Tour takes place on Saturday, May 26th. Perfect for fans of the book, history buffs and those looking for a Saturday night out with a difference!
Paul French’s New York Times bestselling murder mystery captured imaginations across the world when it was released. Now, with the help of historian Lars Ulrick Thom, Bespoke brings 1930s Peking back to life through a walking tour like no other. As night falls, you’ll follow in the footsteps of the victim’s father, ETC Werner, as he frantically searched for his daughter, and learn about the shady characters implicated in her killing.
Saturday, May 26th, tickets 388RMB, email info@bespoke-beijing.com or scan the QR code below:
City of Devils is now available in Australia….all over Australia, and New Zealand….bookshops and online….click here…
Paul French resurrects the denizens of old Shanghai’s badlands, the drug-running, the gambling, and the graft, vividly restoring this long overlooked side of the city’s history
Shanghai, 1941: In a city under siege unfolds an astonishing story of two men whose lives intertwine in crime and twisted friendship. Viennese Joe Farren rose to fame by cashing in on Shanghai’s desperate pleasure seeking. King of the chorus lines, his name was splashed in neon across the infamous Badlands nightclub, ‘Farren’s’. American fugitive Jack Riley, his fingertips acid-burnt, found a future in Shanghai as ‘The Slots King’. ‘Dapper Joe’ and ‘Lucky Jack’ collided, clashed and came together again in a frantic struggle to survive the city’s last days.
Paul French resurrects the denizens of old Shanghai’s badlands, the drug-running, the gambling, and the graft, vividly restoring this long overlooked side of the city’s history.
In the early 1930s, Langston Hughes travelled through Soviet Central Asia, China and Japan. We are delighted to host the writer Aaliyah Bilal, who, through Hughes’ letters and autobiographical material, will give us a unique insight into this fascinating topic.
Aaliyah Bilal is a fiction/non-fiction writer and an Islamicist. Previously she was a recipient of the Shansi Memorial Fellowship at Yunnan University where for two years she conducted research among Hui Zu Muslims. A graduate of The School of Oriental and African Studies at The University of London, she is finishing a book on her experience living as a black woman in East Asia.
Bosshard in China: Documenting Social Change in the 1930s
captures the tumult of the 1930s through historical photographs and films
Chiang Kai-shek, Madame and Sven Hedin talk Hedin’s exploration to Sinkiang in Feburary 1935
The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will present Bosshard in China: Documenting Social Change in the 1930s from April 27 to August 5, 2018. Bosshard in China offers a comprehensive sweep of black and white photographs and documentary films produced by Swiss photo-journalist Walter Bosshard. Living and traveling extensively in China from 1933 to 1939, Bosshard was one of the earliest journalists to record this critical decade in Chinese and world history.
An opening ceremony of the exhibition was held at UMAG today (April 26). Officiating guests included Consul General of Switzerland in Hong Kong and Macau Reto Renggli, Director and Curator of the Swiss Foundation of Photography Peter Pfrunder, Vice-Chairman of the HKU Museum Society Anna Ann Yeung and UMAG Director Florian Knothe.
The exhibition is organised into thematic sections that give insight into the photographer’s mind as he traversed myriad landscapes and social conditions, from Beijing to Lake Qinghai in western China; from the bombing of Hankou to Mongolian shepherds on the steppe. Apart from filming daily life, Bosshard also photographed and interviewed key political figures, including Mao Zedong in Yan’an, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling, Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
Following earlier exhibitions at UMAG of Magnum photographers and their oeuvres in the West, Bosshard in China documents China’s landscape and its people during a time when China was undergoing significant sociopolitical upheaval. During this same era, photojournalism was developing into a serious mass medium of information, and Bosshard’s work in the 1930s was one of the primary means by which the Far East came to life across living rooms in Europe and America.
As Bosshard’s journeys through China are well documented, his imagery offers valuable contextual information. He provides views into a society—and now past—that benefits from the objective view of the camera lens. Bosshard’s work is of historical significance, as most Western photographers only went to China for individual assignments, but did not live there for extended periods. Many of the Chinese photographers were politically engaged or had been commissioned, which resulted in a more selective subject matter and consistent narrative.
Bosshard’s documentary photography and film are neither colonialist nor otherwise politically motivated. Though he lived alongside the Chinese people during the Japanese invasion, he did not take sides but rather let his images—both still and moving—capture the scenes unfolding around him. This phenomenon is remarkable, as traditional reports of political and military campaigns, and especially images of warfare, often aimed to communicate either nationalist or anti-nationalist sentiments. Bosshard documented urban centres and rural regions, peaceful everyday as well as wartime activities, and throughout all of these moments he strived to remain a neutral observer. His oeuvre presents a more holistic view of a country that was perceived internationally as highly important but altogether remained little known.
For more images and captions of the exhibits, please click here.
Details of the Exhibition
Period: April 27, 2018 (Friday) to August 5, 2018 (Sunday) Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Monday to Saturday)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sunday)
Closed on University and Public Holidays Venue: 1/F T.T. Tsui Building, UMAG, HKU, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam Tel/Email: (852) 2241 5500 (General Enquiry) / museum@hku.hk Admission: Free Website:http://www.umag.hku.hk/en/
About University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong (UMAG)
UMAG was founded in 1953 as the Fung Ping Shan Museum. It was originally established as the Fung Ping Shan Library in 1932 in honour of its benefactor. For more information on UMAG, please click here.
Media enquiries
UMAG Senior Communications Officer Ms Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk
UMAG Programme Assistant Ms Chelsea Choi, Tel: (852) 2241 5509, Email: cchelsea@hku.hk
Walking Tour of Peking University: from a former prince’s mansion to a premier university in China
WHAT: Peking University campus historical walking tour, led by Rosie Levine WHEN: May 20, Sunday, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon WHERE: Meet at the East Gate of Peking University Subway Station (Exit A) on line 4 RSVP: please email names and mobile numbers of participants by May 18 to communications.ras.bj@gmail.com, and write Beida” in the subject header HOW MUCH: RMB 30 for RASBJ members, RMB 50 for non-members
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT:
The lush gardens and serene paths of Peking University’s campus resembles the traditional gardens of the nearby Old Summer palace; and yet the campus was originally home to a missionary college, and these “traditional gardens†were designed by an American architect, Henry Murphy. Murphy’s design blends Eastern and Western architectural features in a unique harmony of design. On this walk through the campus, we will explore the former glory of Murphy’s design of Yenching University. After 1952, when Yenching University was shut, Peking University moved into this campus and has called it home to this day. We’ll also discuss the history of the site, a brief overview of higher education in China, and the history of academic exchanges between East and West in China. Some of the characters in this story are:
• Henry Murphy, the Yale-trained architect who so successfully mimicked Chinese garden design.
• John Leighton Stuart, the University President turned Ambassador who was scathingly critiqued by Mao.
• Grace Morrison Boynton, an English teacher at Yenching University who witnessed first-hand the communist takeover in 1949.
• Edgar Snow, famed journalist who helped found the Yenching University Department of Journalism.
• Bing Xin, one of China’s most famous authors who not only graduated from Yenjing University, but also returned to teach.
MORE ABOUT THE TOUR LEADER:
Rosie Levine grew up in Beijing as a child and returned to America at age nine. Striving to understand to her second home led her to specialize in History, Asian Languages & Cultures, and Museum Studies at the University of Michigan. After graduation, Rosie moved back to Beijing where she began researching the history of Beijing. She is now working for the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, a Chinese NGO that works to preserve, protect and promote the unique cultural heritage of Beijing, and pursuing an M.A. in Chinese Studies at Yenching Academy (Peking University) to deepen her knowledge of Chinese history. She regularly gives walking tours of Beijing’s hutongs and other historic sites.
